The Wedding of Cate and Rob USS Daedalus during the Hozgura War
by Allienna
Summary: Another war and another drama with a romantic twist


There was the sound of light heeled feet running, as if someone was late. Elle took a peek outside and saw Elena making her way to the altar and smiled, her hand on Cate's shoulder, she bent a little to dry the tears with a tissue. "Well darling Cate, this is your moment and yours alone; with of course your husband to be." She looked at Ben. "Normally I would have something profound to say Cate, but all I have is...you're the sweetest woman I've ever known and if Rob ever does the wrong thing by you, he will see my knuckles in his face real close."

Cate looked up and grinned. "Not before he sees mine first." With that Elle walked out slowly. As she did she nodded to the ships band assembled off to one side. They looked resplendent in their dress uniforms, amazingly they were all crew, some officers some airman; all shared a love for music. One fellow stood at the front and they played, he sang with the most remarkable voice. Elle found her way to the front sat near Fred and Charlotte.

At the first stains of the music, Cate stood as Ben held out his arm, she looked at him and smiled. "You're not Dad, Ben. But damned if I wouldn't have anyone else in his place." They began their walk. "I love you big guy." She told him.

"Mum and Dad should be here. I know they are in spirit, but well...Jesus Cate, you know how to put a man on the spot don't you. You know I've never said that to you and this is the first and last time." He took a deep breath. "Cate, I love you...sort of." He added with a chuckle. Cate dug him in the ribs, held her corsage; or rather bouquet in front of her and the two of them went down the red carpet. Cate's eyes were solely on Rob, he looked so handsome, even from the back. She really wished she had a wedding dress, but what she wore seemed right for now.

Colonel Steven Caldwell presided over the ceremony with his usual efficiency. Both Cate and Rob had written their vows in their own way and once the Colonel had begun; there was a hushed silence over the gathered crew within the great hangar space of the USS Daedalus.

Finally it came to that special part. The two lovers exchanged "I do." Steven pronounced them husband and wife and the clapping and cheering began, tears fell as well; not only from the bride, but a few of her friends as well. As they walked down the carpeted isle together hand in hand, of course there was the longing kiss; Cate threw her beautiful handmade bouquet into the crowd. It was perfectly snatched out of the air by her closest friend Lena and that brought a few sour looks from some of the other women there; but this was no time for sour grapes.

Cate and Rob had only gotten twenty feet down the carpet, when hell was set loose upon the great ship. The Revenant had arrived.

As the Scarabs engaged Saggitta and Daedalus, Temeluches used the distraction to claim his host: Rob. But Cate, who knew Rob so well, sensed that something was wrong, grabbed Mike by the arm and followed him.

By the time they arrived, Rob had already dealt with the crew in engineering and disabled the ship's transporters. He locked down engineering just as his wife and friend ducked inside.

But Cate did her duty: she shot her husband in the gut to stop him. He'd left her no choice, refusing to stop his sabotage of the ship. He stumbled back from the console, snarling a single word. "Bitch!"

And Rob retaliated, zatting Cate and Mike in response. Then he resumed his work, crippling Daedalus, disabling her weapon systems and shields, as Tal Tenebrae swooped in to claim their prize. The Javelin beat a hasty retreat, leaving the remaining Scarabs to die.

That was when the Revenant began to beam aboard. The crew rallied together to defend their ship from the boarding parties, working side by side to defeat the Revenant.

With Rob dying, the El Aenir turned to the one person who could help him: Anne MacGregor. She had very little choice. She agreed to come aboard to save the young man's life, as Tal Tenebrae returned to Ceryneia.

With the Deadalus now almost crippled it was a frantic effort on the crew's behalf, those that survived the boarding of the ship; to keep her in one piece. Heroism was seen on all parts; it was so bad at one point, the defenders were pushed back on every level. Ben, Cate's brother had an inspired idea; he had C am Mitchell beam over soldiers from the Saggitta behind each and every group of the Revenant. Soon with their aid; the Daedalus crew had the upper hand and the fight aboard was over. Yet, the battle was not yet done. Colonel Caldwell launched all his 302's and with Commander Elle McFearson leading the wing in her AC401 and those also of the Saggitta, with the guns of both ships working overtime, they spent the best part of a thirty five minute struggle, with tragic losses dealing with the Revenant ships. The Saggitta herself had to screen the Daedalus from further damage and even during the height of the battle, Carrie Svennson and her medical team went back and forth between ships attending the wounded; under fire most of the time. During the shipboard fighting, all acquitted themselves bravely, but none more than Cate herself, her CO Elena Ovcharenko, Ben MacGregor and d Major Fred Rivers. Without those four rallying the troops and asking for more, then giving twice as much themselves; the battle would have been lost.

Finally it was over and the accounting was made. The Daedalus suffered badly and Steven Caldwell took the decision to beam everyone except himself and his XO Maria Aguayo over to the Saggitta; much to many protests. But the simple fact was, the ship was running low on life support. Once done, both ships headed for home as best as they could.

Captain Anne MacGregor had thought her world had ended there and then. No sooner had she started for the domed and shielded city, than the El Aenir had returned and began bombarding it. She ran for her life the opposite way, back to the escape pod she came down in. She was there only minutes when she was confronted by one of them, telling her of Rob's plight. There was nothing she could do. After some time, once Rob was healed and the ship went here and there; both Rob and Anne began working on the El Aenir; in the end, convincing them to join in battle against the Hozgura.

Millions of miles away at the SGC Alpha Site, Sean's initial strategy worked with the feint at the dummy site, but when his own aircraft came into range the Hozgura ha'tak ships drew them into a firefight while the transports and other supporting cruisers made a micro jump towards the true Alpha Site location. What Sean didn't realize was the transports didn't set down - they hovered in position with shields raised and *beamed* down the first wave of ground troops, then started to make their way over the top of the Alpha Site, firing their weapons as they came over the top then beamed down a second wave of ground troops. This prevented the Alpha Site from firing on what Sean had presumed would be "unshielded transports".

Roughly a third of the aircraft were lost over the dummy site, but one of the technicians under Sean's command managed to successfully hack into three of the ha'tak's weapons and guidance systems, sowing chaos among the enemy by turning the Hozgura's guns on themselves. Lucille Chalmers acting as CAG of the air support unit ordered his remaining interceptors and fighter-bombers back to the Alpha Site, when they pounced on the transports and secondary support craft. Between the Alpha Site air support and the air defenses, the Hozgura ships were eventually eliminated.

The ground battle was a lot fiercer than Sean expected, and once the admiral made his way down to join his fellow troops in the firefight, quickly reinforced by Avery's team, the tide quickly shifted in favor of the Tauri. Jordan O'Neil co-ordinated with Josile Serantel and her militia; black clouds of arrows rained down upon the enemy, her two thousand strong cavalry men and women wading in deep and close; yet the Hozgura were able to bring in more. It was long and bloody; but the end result was the same. The Hozgura failed, not a single one of them survived.

Alpha Site had lost close to half of their standing forces by the time the prolonged battle was over. After Avery tendered his resignation, wishing to remain at the Alpha Site, Sean accepted his offer. He then asked Lucy to have the paperwork sent in to reinstate Jordan to full-time status, then advised the Alpha Site commander he would contact Homeworld Security to have reinforcements sent in as soon as they were available. Sean returned to SGC and drafted the after-action report to Jack, knowing the General would want a full report on what happened and the request to have reinforcements sent to the Alpha Site.

Time was growing short. The Eldari leader, Sunniva Guorun after so much delay, finally brought together a coalition. But would it matter in the end. A race was now on to secure Cate MacGregor, the Hozgura were after her, as was the El Aenir. Cate herself after the tragedy of losing her husband went into hiding, something that no one knew why, it simply wasn't like her. But she had her reasons. At home she left no trace; yet the Eldari knew exactly where to find her. Cate could have pleaded temporary insanity; Sunniva found her in the mountains, high in the snow fields, alone. It didn't take much for the Eldari guardian to convince Cate to go with her. Strangely, Cate told the strange woman she was waiting for her and knew exactly where to be.

The opposing forces met on the frozen fields of Asculae Tena. There were hundreds of thousands of them on either side. For the Alliance, the Tauri, Eldari, Goa'uld, Free Jaffa, many of their allied worlds and strangely, the El Aenir pushed the Revenant in as well. On the other side was the Hozgura Horde, probably close to a million of them if not more. The battle began sharply, nothing was said on either side, just the sound of weapons and people dying in the multitudes. All with one aim. For the Alliance, see that Cate MacGregor was protected and she gained the Temple above high on a snowy plateau; for the Hozgura, the same. Their leader Razgul, had the ability to take control of a weapon that would turn the Universe to his making, Cate had the same to stop him. While the battle raged below, those two made their way to the top, Razgul thinking in his arrogance, that this mere human woman would be like clay in his hands. But little did he know that the undead King, would be as mortal as his opponent once he stepped through the arches of the Temple. The ancient device within his grasp, he lunged at Cate with his black blade; Catherine was not unprepared, the Eldari had given her one their own two edged swords, which she used to good effect. It was a fight to the death, yet Cate knew if she lost; everything would be.

Meanwhile on the battlefield, the numbers of the Hozgura proved to be more than the allies had bargained for. With almost every SG team from Earth leading huge forces of the alliance, even with heavy artillery support, they were constantly being pushed back towards an ice covered lake. Heroes were made that day and many medals would be issued; but that did not make up for the numbers they lost and kept on losing. Several times the Eldari shock troops, surged forward, Sunniva yelling bloody oaths but to no avail. It was at that moment when all seemed lost; Baelor Devenaught of the Pegasus Eldari appeared with hundreds of woman behind him. A large portal had been opened upon an opposing hill, and behind the women, thousands upon thousands of horsemen, heavy cavalry; their lances used like scythes through chaff. A roaring cheer went up around the survivors of the Alliance and a final push was made that turned the tide.

Within the temple grounds a savage fight went on between the Tauri women and the Hozgura Warlord. Both were cut in so many places, it was inevitable they would die soon enough from their wounds unless one of the reached the Weapon of Eternity. With all her remaining strength, Cate took one last lunge in a slashing movement. To her surprise Razgul merely stepped backwards, but tripped. That was her moment; she raced for the weapon and activated the four blue panels in a sequence told to her in a dream, which seemed long ago. The world turned; a great blue white beam shot up from the device; Cate disappeared in a vapor, as did Razgul only his was an inky black. The Hozgura forces finally collapsed and the strangest thing happened, the snow and ice disappeared, to be replaced with lush forests and fields of flowers.

That was the end. The Allies went their own way once again. Some would be enemies again, some would stay allies. Back on Earth now, the Stargate Command counted the butchers bill. More than half their SG teams were gone. The Odyssey, Saggitta and Deadalus, backed up by three of their new small cruisers won the day in the battles above the planet, along with allied ships. But they too, did not escape unharmed. Every surviving member of the SGC that went to that last fight, was mentioned for bravery. Outstanding names would be remembered, there were simply so many of them. Yet the perplexing thing remained, what happened to Cate? Officially she was listed as MIA, as both her mother and husband, refused to believe she was dead.

Six months later, July 30th 2011; Admiral Sean Davidson was reorganizing the SG teams. He had a heavy workload and wasn't in a mood to argue as the newly promoted Captain Robert Hughes asked once again if he could return to the planet and search for clues.


End file.
